Getting the Lid Off the Can

I had a boss who used to say that the hardest part of painting a room was getting the lid off the can. So true. I speak as one who painted, by hand, alone, all alone, every wall in our three story townhouse, one wall at a time. Bird by bird, you might say. Took most of the winter, because it also entailed cleaning, chucking, generally organizing the place at each small stage.

I did this because 1. I don't have the physical strength to paint more than one wall in a day 2. it's much less disruptive to the other people not to have to move all the furniture at once 3. I buy cheapo roller covers, and discard the day's one at the end of the day without remorse and 4. I like doing it this way.

Sooooo, I have been held up for a couple of years from continuing this trend, since it's several years since I was able to pay any attention to the walls, other than climbing them, and certainly no attention to whether they needed a paint job. But in the course of human events, I have been emptying, freecycling and generally organizing upstairs closets which had not been attended to since dinosaurs roamed the earth.

And found they had never been painted since the house was built, over 20 years ago. Soooo, that's next, I guess. Small closets, not the room sized ones I painted a while back, while HP was in the rehab and I wanted to get them done before he came home so as not to expose him to fumes, and they were a big job.

Anyway, since this is inside closets, no need to get fancy about the paint. I'll just use leftovers from other jobs, all of which are pale colors, and won't jump out at me when I open the door. And since one of the closets contained the paint cans, the only place to keep them frostfree, I've been contemplating, for several weeks, in fact, picking a can and getting the lid off.

And today I did it.



So this picture is by way of a brag, and a demo of what needs to be painted and spiffed up before my weaving and knitting supplies find a home in there.

Speaking of weaving and knitting and other artforms, March is Youth Art Month around here, and the town hall and library are packed with terrific art from our local schools, Grade Two to senior in High School, and some of the works are really good. It's a nice way of giving a huge range of kids the chance to show their work with minimum fancy arrangements -- no framing, just plastic sleeves, and staple the work to the walls -- but there's usually a reception and mobs of proud parents roving the buildings, great fun.

Anyway, I am in the middle of a weaving series, small components to make a bigger work, and as I was roving the exhibits yesterday, I was drawn inevitably to this lovely little piece of work, created by a third grader.



Ah, a kindred spirit!